The Palm Beach Post on a financial scheme of the two accused plus another priest.

In his own defense:

Greeted by police set to arrest him on grand theft charges at Palm Beach International Airport last month, the Rev. John Skehan "blurted out that he had misappropriated money" from St. Vincent Ferrer Catholic Church, a search warrant released Friday shows.

Skehan admitted several times that he misdirected money from the church, but told investigators he saw himself as the CEO of a multimillion-dollar company who wasn’t properly compensated, the warrant shows.

"Skehan gave his opinion that he was never properly paid by the diocese, he was running a big business and getting nothing for it," the search warrant says. " … He took what he had coming to him, as the diocese was cheap and never paid for his education."

In discussing how much was misappropriated, Skehan told police it was a "mountain of money," the document shows.

But in the same breath, the 79-year-old retired pastor told investigators that a lot of that money was used on other people.

Police have charged Skehan and his successor, the Rev. Francis Guinan, 63, with stealing more than $400,000 from the parish’s donations. An audit conducted by the Diocese of Palm Beach alleges the pair misappropriated $8.7 million.

According to the warrant, Skehan said the money, in many cases, was for other people. He said he left in his will $4 million in a school endowment fund and admitted to a second, $2.7 million hidden fund that he planned to hand over when he retired.